bluewater1150

Can anyone clarify a point for me. Can a non resident, with an NIE, purchase a car in Spain ? New or secondhand. Some sources seem to indicate a NIA is required - which I assume is full residencia. My old UK car may not last much longer so any advise would be welcome.

Mitzyboy

Well one question - how long have you been in Spain if your old UK car won't last much longer. If its more than 6 months then you ARE a Spanish resident, and if it is more than 6 months then your british car is illegal if its still on UK plates.

And yes you can purchase a car as a non resident if you have an NIE.

With NIA (I've never heard of it) if you are talking about citizenship, then you will probably never get that as its a long and convoluted procedure.

Spanishliferules

A
Mitzy
Como Estas

I assume being they said non resident they don't live in Spain or have not been there 6 months or over permanently. subject to playing by the rules the car can remain on GB plates for ever without leaving Spain irrespective of time, ITV Insurance etc. but yes with NIE and proof of property you can buy a car. All this will change quickly though with forth coming laws from Brussels and all will be a much easier process.

Mercedes

What are the forth coming laws coming in from Brussels?

Mitzyboy

Hola
bien gracias, y usted?

Oh ... wow ... thats different to what I understood. Because unless you take the car back to the UK for MOT it is no longer legal in its country of registration and I understand therefore becomes illegal in Spain. Also I thought you only have 6 months to register the car, and after that it should be changed to Spanish plates or taken off the road for 6 months. I didn't realise it made a difference if you didn't live there

Mercedes

I've had UK plated cars in Spain for the last 5 years. My one car I had the local garage take it for Spanish MOT and then I drove it around on that and was told it was legal. Now I just drive the car back to the UK for its MOT and back again. I haven't had any problems to date and I have the police living next door.

Gadget

Hi,

If it helps, I am (currently) a non resident, as I only moved here two months ago and I bought a new car. I needed my NIE number and I did show my Padron details, though not sure whether that was necessary. I basically talked to the garage and asked them what I needed.
Cheers

Gaget

Mitzyboy

Yes if you get it MOTd then its legal in the country of registration. But theres been enough discussion on the forums about the actual legality of this in Spain and as far as I could tell from the conclusions, the situation is not legal because you can't keep a UK car on UK plates for more than 6 months in Spain (and then you can keep it off road for 6 months) ... but as I say, maybe the rules are different if you don't live there in spain full time. From what I've read then, irrespective of whether you live next to a police man , its contrary to all the research and reading I have done over the last 12 months or so.

Unexpat

I agree. This is the current situation as I understand it. If you can find a UK insurance company to cover your car for a year abroad and you've just taxed it and MOT'ed it then you could run it for the full year here, but most UK insurers will only insure for 6 months abroad maximum and you would probably need to avoid becoming a resident in this case (i.e. not be here for more than 183 days in the year, or not be here from day one with the intention of being here permanently).

If you can find a Spanish insurance company that will insure it thereafter, with an ITV (Spanish MOT) and Spanish road tax paid, but still on UK plates, then it should also be legal as far as being insured, taxed and "MOT'ed", but will not be legal if the police apply the rules to the full. I know my brother managed this many years ago, for several years, but then the rules were not enforced as much as today.

Then again, if you are in this latter situation, you're not far off being able to get spanish plates for it (trip to hacienda and trafico and some dosh).

Mitzyboy

I saw a comment the other day that down past alicante they were stopping and impounding UK plated cars which were "illegal" and not releasing them until they were registered on UK plates

bfg69bug

how the hell does that work mercades ? you say that you had it mot´d every year... does that include tax and insuring it in the uk ? which uk insurer did you use ?

did having an ITV and not an mot invalidate your uk insurance??? (it should, according to the uk laws)

did you ever get stopped by the guardia civil and explain that situation?

Mitzyboy

Doesn't matter though does it? Even if he was spanish insured and UK mot'd, you still can't keep it on UK plates for that amount of time. You can' ITV a british plated car can you?

bfg69bug

indeed - you can itv an english car but it has no meaning to the uk insurers - it has to be uk mot´d. a uk plated car can not legally be kept in spain for more than 6 months, it is illegal for a spanish resident to drive any foreign plated vehicle.

jdr

Why have you got a Padron and NIE if you dont live here ??

bfg69bug

you have to have a padron and NIE to buy a car jdr. you CAN have these and still be non-resident - i have them - i believe by "non-resident" they do live here but do not hold a spanish residency card?